Tim,
My main line is Mass Media, Marketing Management and Behavioral Science. This High-end audio dealer thing, I do for fun. I'd sure like to see what conclusion you would come to when faced with a scatter plot. Something tells me you would have gone with the "culturally authentic", the exact same way you go with "fidelity to the signal" in audio. Same thing isn't it? It's the way it is so that's the way I should like it. Well, I wish I had come to the same conclusions as good ol' HW. Not only did he make a lot of tummies happy, had I come up with it I would be consulting for some of the biggest multinationals, helping them make billions cumulatively and thus have created thousands of jobs. No, it isn't that simple the difference between you and me is I don't expect to see every detail in a talk limited by the organizers to no more than 20 minutes.
As I've mentioned in another thread, the downside of product diversification is higher prices due to the increased capital outlay for more production lines with ever smaller production runs and the multiplication of promotional campaigns by the same factor. The reason I posted this is that it is clear that the audio market in general, not just the high end, is responding to ever smaller differences segments exactly the same way every single industry is. The upside is you get what you want and how you want it.
In case you weren't listening, the Grey Poupon example was laid out as a counterpoint, and not a supporting anecdote. The lesson taken home he says was the wrong one. Unless of course you agree with snob appeal marketing, which I thought you were vehemently against or are you just playing the contrarian? Just curious. You like to mention Sean and Harman, but Sean himself said that they use different samples for different targets. The universal concept is passe. It has been since the late eighties. It is no coincidence that the diversification of products and the steady increase in retail prices picked up at this time and has brought us to where we are today. There is no point in arguing what is best, only what is best for you and even that changes depending not solely on preference but circumstance. You and I use the same laptop but there are three different versions of the MacBook Pro. I don't know which of the three you got but I didn't get the pimped out model because I don't need the extra ram and processing power of the top model. A graphic artist or video editor would have chosen differently. Every sport has its own shoe and you have a choice of hundreds for that particular type. Good old Howard wasn't responsible for this but he was responsible for chunky spaghetti sauce. You like near field, I like my scale large. It doesn't make me better than you nor does that make you better than me. I admire that you stick to your guns Tim, you've got that platonic ideal about what goes in being the same as what goes out. I respect that even if I don't buy it anymore than you buy frank's perfect tweeter philosophy. The whole point is I don't have to buy it. I don't matter. I don't matter because there will be someone making stuff for your needs and others making stuff for me for mine. Let's face it. The days of the ST-70 are gone.
As far as the story of New Coke goes, I'd say it supports the hypothesis. If you look closely at the beginnings of the New Coke story, the CEO at the time in particular, you'll see something interesting. I'll give you a clue. Where was he based before he became CEO and what about that place made him convinced that changing the formula at all could legitimately be put on the table?
